In the late 1930's, a German aircraft designer (Sanger) developed the
boost/glide vehicle concept: During the first phase of its flight, such an
aircraft accelerates rapidly to reach its cruising speed. On attaining that
velocity, the engines are shut down, and for the remainder of the flight, the
vehicle glides through the atmosphere, using its momentum to reach the selected
destination. The idea has been researched extensively, and a workable design is
available to build such a vehicle today. Cruising at an altitude of about
twenty miles, through the edge of space, it would travel approximately fifteen
times the speed of sound (over ten thousand miles per hour!). Such a vehicle
could easily traverse the Pacific, traveling from Los Angeles to Tokyo in less
than an hour. It would also make commuting from New York to London feasible,
since that trip would take about thirty minutes. Perhaps the most incredible
feat accomplished by this type of aircraft, the hypersonic transport, is that
its operating costs would be approximately half that of a Boeing 747, one of the
most efficient one in the air today.

We know how to build hypersonic transports, and the technology is available
now that would enable its construction. The major obstacle preventing the
vehicle from being introduced is obtaining funding to build operational
prototypes, and for final testing that would yield a commercially viable
product. Recognizing the tremendous benefits to be gained through use of
hypersonic transportation, and of the technology it represents, FKE plans to
pursue a program through which it will participate in the aircraft's
development.

An airline providing hypersonic transport service between widely separated
points on the globe could bring about significant economic changes, simply by
reducing the amount of time needed to transport goods and personnel between
distant locations. By reducing transatlantic travel time to approximately
half an hour, for example, intercontinental commuting could become a viable
option! With no two points on the globe more than an hour apart,
"just-in-time" manufacturing would take on a whole new meaning, and service
calls to distant facilities could be accomplished within a day, rather than
within a week.

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